The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business

By Patrick M. Lencioni

There is a competitive advantage out there, arguably more powerful than any other. Is it superior strategy? Faster innovation? Smarter employees? No, New York Times best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, argues that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre ones has little to do with what they know and how smart they are and more to do with how healthy they are. In this book, Lencioni brings together his vast experience and many of the themes cultivated in his other best-selling books and delivers a first: a cohesive and comprehensive exploration of the unique advantage organizational health provides.

Simply put, an organization is healthy when it is whole, consistent and complete, when its management, operations and culture are unified.  Healthy organizations outperform their counterparts, are free of politics and confusion and provide an environment where star performers never want to leave. Lencioni’s first non-fiction book provides leaders with a groundbreaking, approachable model for achieving organizational health—complete with stories, tips and anecdotes from his experiences consulting to some of the nation’s leading organizations. In this age of informational ubiquity and nano-second change, it is no longer enough to build a competitive advantage based on intelligence alone. The Advantage provides a foundational construct for conducting business in a new way—one that maximizes human potential and aligns the organization around a common set of principles.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Mar 14, 2012
• ISBN: 9781118266038

Reviews for The Advantage

[bsanner_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the world of business and organizational leadership, being smart is important. But it's not enough. What differentiates the most effective organizations is not simply intelligence, but organizational culture and health. "Organizational health," Lencioni writes, is the "multiplier of intelligence" (11). Lencioni's "The Advantage" is all about organizational health - how to develop it, how to spread it, and how to protect it. Lencioni unpacks four disciplines that will help an organization lean in towards making health a priority: team (outlined by five defining behaviors), clarity (built around six critical questions), communication, and systems. Although some sections were underwhelming (e.g. the communication and systems sections were brief and lacked the characteristic Lencioni insight), in all Lencioni provides some great insights and practices towards the development of healthy organizations (see especially his work on team and clarity). "The Advantage" is an easy-to-read, easy-to-implement roadmap for intentional investment in developing healthy organizations. B

[hgbutchwalker · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful summary of all of Lencioni's business principles wrapped into one cohesive system. Great wisdom here and practical tools.

[david__clifford · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lencioni's book is a must read for anyone in leadership within corporate or church settings. If you want to start toward a healthy organization in which people feel valued and there is clarity in communication then this is the book fo you. I have read a lot of buisness books over my 30 years in the buisness world and wish I would have had this earlier.